Your Rescue Dog May Have Been Bought At An Auction

I just read an article by "The Washington Post" which really got me to thinking. In this article, the author, Kim Kavin, talked about rescue organizations buying dogs at auctions. I am really not sure how I feel about this. Both of my dogs came from breeders, but I consider them rescues. Belle was born blind because she was born with no retinas. The breeder would have put her down had my husband and I not purchased her at the same cost as all the other puppies in the litter. My husband and I fell in love with this little, feisty Yorkie and knew she could live a healthy, happy life. The breeder felt she had no value if we did not purchase her. Almost 9 years later, she is still the smartest and independent little dog I have ever seen. I found Abbie at a Flea Market almost 4 years ago. She was just 8 weeks old and had scars on her back. She still has those scars. She was terrified of people, especially children. I think a child or children hurt her. This can definitely happen when a child is too rambunctious. I prefer to think this instead of some adult hurt her. She is better now with adults but she is still scared of children. 

The reason I am not sure how I feel about rescue groups buying dogs at auction from breeders is because Kim Kavin pointed out more and more people are opting to getting their dogs from rescue groups instead of going to breeders or puppy mills. With more and more puppy mills being shut down, there are fewer and fewer dogs to be rescued. There are also fewer shelter dogs. In the 1970's there were an estimated over 20 million and in February of 2017, there were approximately 780,000 dogs in shelters. When the rescue groups buy dogs at auction, these dogs would normally be spade or neutered. This would eliminate these dogs as being used in a breeding program. However, with all the money being spent at auctions, is this going to cause more dogs being bred for this purpose? This is what bothers me about rescue dogs being bought at an auction. 

I really recommend you reading this article and would love to know what you think.